Is There Such Thing as Six Sigma LITE? Scarborough ME

Home-based business owners are so often overly focused on marketing and generating profits that they neglect their actual business operations. Larger business endeavors, with more people involved and work loads that are better divided up and delegated, do a better job at actually managing their business operations.

Is There Such Thing as Six Sigma LITE?

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Use Six Sigma Principles to Grow and Improve Your Home-Based Business

By Joe Froelich and Cris Del Angel, Proudfoot Consulting

Home-based business owners are so often overly focused on marketing and generating profits that they neglect their actual business operations. Larger business endeavors, with more people involved and work loads that are better divided up and delegated, do a better job at actually managing their business operations. But that doesn’t mean that home business owners should neglect looking for ways to make making their business management more efficient.

They just need to go about it more innovatively. One major business discipline to control and analyze business management is Six Sigma. This article will explore ways that a small business owner can use a “lighter” version of Six Sigma. The outcome of greater efficiency in business operations will be greater profits. This article will explore these possibilities. Six Sigma, LEAN and other similar disciplines of analysis and control have been utilized for decades. Ever since former GE CEO Jack Welch sang its praises in his 2001 book, the Six Sigma process in particular has been widely used by companies looking to streamline their operations and capitalize on opportunities. The process has undoubtedly helped improve the financial results of major corporations such as Toyota, ING and Volkswagen. Six Sigma is often touted as the hero of the organization or blamed as the goat, as evidenced by what transpired at 3M and Home Depot. Given the intensifying scrutiny on Six Sigma, we offer the following perspective on its effectiveness, scale and alternative approaches.

Introduction to Six Sigma Six Sigma is a cyclical process utilized to identify issues and opportunities within an organization. Each step in the cyclical process is required to ensure the best possible results. This process is a progression from beginning to end. Six Sigma was first used on a wide scale by Motorola in the 1980s to improve quality through statistical measurements and benchmarking. The process entered the mainstream of public perception in the 1990s when CEO Jack Welch embraced it at General Electric. Since then, Six Sigma has experienced its share of success stories, as noted by the aforementioned companies, as well as its share of failures. Along the way, it has become a fixture in many corporate cultures.

The Six Sigma process does not need to be regarded as a cumbersome undertaking. This process is comprised of five steps. Each step involves a series of actions to be completed before moving on to the next step. Six Sigma team members intimately know this process as DMAIC.

Define the customers, their critical issues and the core processes involved with these issues. Also, project boundaries including the start, mapping of the process flow, and stop of the process must be defined.

Measure the performance of the core business process involved. This step involves data collectio...

Some investors are successful business owners who have sold their businesses, have large amounts of money, and would like to get involved in starting or growing another business. Other investors are simply your family and friends who might have limited money and little business experience, but they want to see you succeed.